This patent relates to wireless communication techniques, and more particularly to wireless communication techniques for communication nodes located in vehicles.
There are numerous sensor nodes and receiving units (communication nodes) in modern vehicles that must communicate with one another. These nodes can be located in harsh environments where they are exposed to extreme temperatures, or to weather, debris or other deleterious factors, for example nodes located on wheels to send wheel speed information; on axles to send load balancing information; on bumpers to send nearby object detection information, etc. The information may need to be continuously updated requiring robust communication between the sensor nodes and the receiving units.
Communication between these nodes can be wired or wireless. Wired communication requires running and protecting the wires which may be in harsh or crowded environments, and wired communication may not be suitable for sensors that are subject to movement or rotation. Wireless communication may be preferred but also can be challenging, for example the wireless communication link between the sensor nodes and the receiving node may be poor when there are metal objects surrounding one of the nodes or between the sensor nodes and the receiving node.
It would be desirable to implement wireless communication techniques in a vehicle that facilitate robust wireless communication between the sensor nodes and the receiving unit, satisfying the latency and reliability requirements of the application.